Harry knew the Drawing Room was on the other side of the Manor, and he wasn't sure how long it would take to get there, but he ran as hard as he could. He passed many bodies on the way, but not one of them seemed to be alive or conscious. He didn't take the time to see how many of those bodies were from the Order, there would be time for that later. Right now he had to get to that room and end this.

He heard voices not far ahead, shadows on the wall. He jumped over a stray piece of debris that littered the hall and slid into an alcove. There was something familiar about the voices but in the hushed tones they were speaking in it was hard to figure out what is was they belonged to.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten, wand at the ready as he heard the footsteps approach. As they got closer he jumped out, wand ready to fire, but stopped suddenly as he spotted a familiar face.

"Ron?" he gasped, shocked.

"Blood hell," Ron breathed, pulling Harry in for a hug.

Harry's arms wound around his best friend and he held him tightly, patting him twice, and then let go as the rest of the group rounded the corner.

"How?" Harry asked surprised.

"Hermione found me," Ron said. "Zabini wanted me to kill her."

"What?"

"I would have, too, if it hadn't been for Wormtail."

"Wormtail?" Harry asked confused.

"Apparently the blood rat had a change of heart. Killed Zabini to save my life."

"Really?"

"I'm sure he regretted it instantly, though, as that silver hand of his did him in right afterward."

Harry blinked a few times, not sure what to say. He gazed over at the group, spotted Hermione with Draco, Arthur, Andromeda, and even Narcissa Malfoy. He eyed her suspiciously, looking at Hermione for an explanation.

"She saved Andromeda's life," Hermione explained.

"She's on our side," Draco added.

Harry turned his gaze back to Draco's mother. "How do we know you won't betray us to Voldemort the second we enter the Drawing Room?"

"My son's life is on the line," Narcissa said snippily. "If siding with you saves his life than that's what I'll do."

"Don't blow it," Harry said.

"Potter!" Draco growled angrily. "That's my mother you're speaking rudely to."

"I'm not taking any chances here Malfoy!" Harry retorted. "If she proves that she's really on our side than at the end of the battle I'll forgive her, but right now I'm not risking our lives by unwisely trusting a Death Eaters wife."

"He's right," Narcissa said to Draco, placing her hand on his shoulder before he could advance on Harry. She looked at Harry, "I understand your hesitation. But you can trust me."

"Prove is by helping us kill Voldemort." Harry replied. "We need to go."

"Where's Dumbledore?" Arthur asked as the group began to move again.

Harry swallowed the lump that instantly formed in his throat. "Dead. I'll explain later. We don't have time now."

Shocked gasps came from everyone but they refrained from asking questions. They knew Harry was right. They had to get to Voldemort.

After having to detour a few times due to blocked halls, they made it to the door of the drawing room, which was closed.

Draco waved his wand, blocking sound from entering the room so they could talk before entering.

"How do we know this is going to work?" Harry asked skeptically.

"The head of the Manor controls everything that goes on inside," Narcissa explained.

"But Lucius-."

"Is dead." Draco said. "I'm now the head."

"Oh," Harry said nodding. "Sorry to hear mate."

"No, you're not." Draco said smiling slightly. "But thanks anyways."

"So he can't hear us?" Harry asked.

"He shouldn't be able to hear us. He also shouldn't know we're here either. Somehow he'd connected his magic to my fathers and had the ability to know exactly what was going on in the Manor, but with father death he should have lost that connection. Whether or not he knows he lost the ability is remained to be seen."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No point in stalling any farther. This ends now. Is everyone ready?"

The assembled group nodded as Harry pointed his wand at the door, mumbling an "alohormora,". Nothing happened. Harry glanced at Draco, "Want to give it a try?"

Draco nodded, taking out his wand. "When this door opens be ready. Who knows what he has in there." He mimicked Harry, muttering the unlocking spell under his breath. The door blasted open in a shower of dust, debris, and smoke. Draco shouted, "Go!"

They ran, the smoke giving them coverage as they entered the room. They knew exactly where Voldemort was, thanks to Draco, and all aimed their wands and spells towards the centre of the room. However Draco's unlocking spell had opened not only their door, but three others in the room as well. Suddenly the room was surrounded by Order member firing spells: Kingsley, McGonagall, Hagrid, Bill, Dean, and Neville. There were also four remaining Death Eaters, each firing spells to defend their master. Harry recognized them instantly: Gibbon, Nott Sr, Selwyn, and Scabior.

Voldemort just stood there, watching, Nagini wrapped around his shoulders as the spells all seemed to miss him. He laughed humorlessly as the Order members advanced on him, his Death Eaters closing ranks around him in a protective barrier.

"You think this is the end Potter?" he asked, spotting Harry.

"You've lost Tom," Harry said. "Only four of your servants remain. You're outnumbered."

Voldemort laughed again, "I'm far more powerful than all of you combined."

"It's not always about power." Harry stated.

"Oh but it is," Voldemort retorted, taking a step towards Harry.

"No," Harry replied, raising his hands to stop any one from firing at Voldemort. "It isn't, and that's what you don't understand. And that will be your downfall."

Voldemort snared and with a wave of his hand his Death Eaters were knocked to the ground, giving him the chance to descend upon Harry. The Order cried out, ready to defend the Chosen One, but Harry stopped them.

"It has to be this way!"

Voldemort laughed and raised his wand, "You're a fool Harry Potter. And that's your downfall. Avada Kedavra!"

The green light shot out of Voldemort's wand and collided with Harry, but as Harry went down the strangest thing happened; a beam shot off of him and ricocheted back at Voldemort. A split second later he was on the ground as well.

Silence ensured, no one quite knowing what to do. At once Kingsley, McGonagall, and Madeye sprang into action advancing on the Death Eaters and grouping them in a protective barrier, shielding them from escape.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, running towards her friend, Ron and Draco at her heals. "Harry! Oh Godric, no!"

"Hermione," Draco said placing two fingers on Harry's neck. "He's not dead. He has a pulse!"

"But-but-." Hermione sputtered.

"Does that mean he lives too?" Ron asked quietly glancing over at Voldemort.

"He has to," Hermione mumbled. "The snake. The snake hasn't been destroyed yet. It still lives, therefore Voldemort lives!"

Draco's eyes narrowed, "not for long." He raised his wand, aiming it at the beast as it circled its master, hissing and spitting at anyone who dared to get close.

"No!" Hermione cried reaching out and grabbing his wrist. "The sword, Draco. Remember? It has to be killed by the sword."

"The swords not here Hermione!" Draco replied angrily, eyes still on the snake.

"You can get it!"

"What?" Draco rounded on Hermione. "I can't leave, Hermione! The snake needs to be killed now!"

"Just ask for help Draco," Hermione replied calmly. Draco looked confused. "The sword responds to your need, but you must concentrate and really mean it."

"But I'm not a Gryffindor," Draco mumbled quietly sounding defeated. "It will never work."

"Just try," Hermione insisted. "I know you can do it."

Draco nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on the one thing he desperately needed: help. I need help to kill the snake. He repeated in his head, over and over again. A moment later he heard a clatter and his eyes sprang open. There, at his feet, was the sword of Godric Gryffindor, glistening in the dim lights.

"See," Hermione said and when Draco turned to look at her, his eyes wide and mouth open in shock, he saw that tears shone in her eyes. "You're braver than you give yourself credit for. Only a true Gryffindor could have made the sword materialize."

Draco nodded, his throat suddenly feeling tight, as he reached down and picked up the sword; it wasn't nearly as heavy as he would have expected it to be. He took a step, than another, approaching the still hissing snake. He knew the snake was poisonous and deadly, he'd have to be careful.

The room was quiet, all eyes on the blond as he stopped two feet away from the serpent. Nagini stopped her circling, face pointed towards Draco. His palms began to sweat slightly, and he was afraid the sword would slip from his fingers as he clenched them harder. After a few seconds he jumped, springing towards the snake at the same moment she struck. Her teeth just barely missed his arm. He stumbled as he landed on the ground, rightened himself quickly, and turned back towards the snake. She struck out again, hissing louder than ever. Raising the sword high over his head he lowered it, missing her head but nicking her tail. The snake gave off a high pitched sound he'd never heard before and advancing on him again. This time Draco knew what he had to do.

He waited, watching as Nagini reeled back and struck a final time. He waited a second, than another until she was three inches from him before raising his arm again. The sword hit its mark, slicing through the snake's neck and chopping her head off. Blood spattered over him and he heard a thump as the snakes lifeless body landed on the ground, head rolling to a stop.

He let out a shaky breath and dropped the sword, a clattering echo resounding throughout the room. Hermione ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, when out of the corner of his eyes he saw Voldemort's foot twitch. He quickly grabbed Hermione and swung her behind his body, protectively.

At the same time Harry groaned and sat up, grabbing his wand from where it was lying beside him. They stood up at the same time, turning to face each other. Nobody seemed to know what to do as, slowly, they began to circle.

"Nobody help me," Harry said, his eyes on Voldemort's. "I have to be the one to do this. Alone."

"Potter doesn't mean that," Voldemort laughed. "He doesn't know how to enter a battle on his own."

"I think you're mistaking me with yourself Tom," Harry replied calmly. Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "You've killed so many people, Tom, without an ounce of guilt. You've lost everything. You have nothing to live for. Why don't you try for a little remorse, Tom?"

"What?" Voldemort asked angrily.

"Remorse. Guilt. Shame. It's the only thing you have left."

Voldemort snarled and stopped, raising his wand at the same time Harry did. What they didn't see was that every other person in the room mimicked their movements. Voldemort struck, a green beam flying from his wand straight towards Harry, but it was deflected by at least ten others causing it to go off course and hit the wall. Dust and pieces of stone rained down as Harry fired his spell. It was his that hit Voldemort straight on and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

Again the room went silent, watching Voldemort's body waiting for him to resurrect from the dead again. Draco was the brave one to slowly approach the body, bending warily down and feeling the side of his neck. "No pulse." His voice was hardly above a whisper.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"I'm sure," Draco said looking up at Hermione, a big smile on his face. "He's dead. It's over. Harry did it. We've won!"

Hermione let out the biggest sigh, tears instantly filling her eyes as she kneeled beside Draco and kissed him harder than she had ever in her life. She didn't care about the audience, who she could hear distantly cheering, all she cared was that she as safe and Draco was safe. And that the battle was finally over.

They broke apart, laughing slightly full of happiness and relief. Hermione glanced at Ron who was standing next to Harry. Ron felt her eyes on him and turned to look at her. She squeezed Draco's hand once before letting go and walking over to the red head.

"I know a lot of this must be confusing for you," she said quietly.

"Yeah, well," Ron said raising a hand and ruffling his hair in the back, "it's not just you and Malfoy that's confusing me. There's a lot I don't know."

"I know," Hermione agreed. Harry walked over to them.

"We really missed you mate."

Ron nodded, "I missed you all as well. I have so many questions."

"We'll answer them as best we can," Hermione promised.

"But not right now."

"Right now we need to get back to the safe house." Arthur said joining the conversation. He pulled his son in for a hug. "Your mother has been worried sick about you. She's probably in a right state right now."

"Is everyone alright? Fred and George? Ginny? Percy? Charlie?"

"George was taken back to the Safe House by Fred," Bill said as he joined his family. "He was struck by some sort of spell that, uh, cut his ear off."

"What?" Arthur asked, his face going slightly white.

Bill nodded, "I ran into them just after leaving this lot outside the dungeons."

"Percy and Charlie are dead," Hagrid said in a solemn as he made his way over. "I saw them on the East Side of the Manor. I'm sorry."

"Who else?" Harry asked, blinking his eyes quickly to stop the tears from forming. "How many have we lost?"

"We won't know for sure until we collect all the bodies. A few of us will remain here, the rest of you return to the Safe House and send those who are capable of helping back here. It's been a long night and you lot need some rest."

"I still have my port key," Hermione sad taking the object out of her pocket. "It's small but we should all be able to use it."

Draco touched his finger to the bottle cap she held, Ron and Harry reaching out as well. Neville and Dean, the only remaining students from Hogwarts left at the Manor, joined them. A moment later the world began to spin and they were flying. They landed on the ground of the Safe House with a thump.

"We lost twelve of our people today- six of those were children who braved their lives to help end this war." No one spoke a word as they listened to Kingsley. "A moment of silence, if you please, for Hannah Abbot, Lavender Brown, Cho Chang, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Padma Patil, and Seamus Finnigan."

Pavarti, sitting next to Hermione, wept at the mention of her sister and best friend, and Hermione reached out to pat her hand comfortingly. Dean, who had always been close to Seamus, was choking back tears as well.

"Their lives were so young and taken too soon. But they will be remembered as heroes in this war. They will get the recognition they deserve. I promise you.

"Could we have another moment for those from the Order who lost their lives: Percy Weasely, Charlie Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Elphias Doge, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

More tears fell around the table, Harry's shoulders shaking as sobs wrecked his body. So many of his friends had been killed in battle because of him. Because he had had a piece of Voldemort's soul attached to his body. He felt responsible for all of these 12 deaths, even though he knew he really shouldn't blame himself. It was hard not to. Not only had 12 people died but 5 had been seriously injured.

It was the next day and the body count had been tallied. Nearly every Death Eater had either been killed or escaped the battle, and all those who had been imperuised by Voldemort were shaken, terrified of the things they had done. It was hard figuring out if they were completely honest about whether or not they were cursed but Ron was doing all he could; he'd seen and heard a lot his time at the Manor.

He, himself, was still ashamed when he thought of what he'd done, especially after seeing Mrs. Granger with his mother for she had screamed hysterically at the sight of him. It took Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Fleur to calm her down and explain that Ron wasn't the same person who'd done all those terrible things to her.

Draco has his hands full too, as he was busy vouching for the Slytherins he'd safely returned to the Safe House. He'd explained what had happened when he ran into them at the manor and how they'd chosen to be rescued. They had given Mrs. Weasley quite the freight when they appeared in the yard, and they had been locked in a room of the house until an explanation could be given. Most, if not all were still hesitant to trust the sneaky Slytherins.

Narcissa, on the other hand, had been welcomed warmly by Mrs. Weasley whom remembered her from her day at school. Andromeda's accounts of the battle, and how Narcissa had saved her life, went a long way into making her more acceptable as well.

There was a lot to do but everything was being put on hold for this meeting, anyone who had participated in the battle- Order members and their new recruits- were welcomed. The Slytherins sat in a group at the back of the room, not speaking a word. Narcissa sat next to Draco and Andromeda, her face set in a frown as she listened to everything that had happened.

"The bodies of the Death Eaters have all been taken care of." Kingsley added now and Draco glanced back at his old house mates, watching their faces for any sign of irritation or anger at the lack of respect being shown for their parents and friend of parents, but nothing showed; they remained impassive.

"The bodies of our friends and family have all been sent to their respected families. Memorials will be held when the family is ready to do so but we will be holding a general service, in order for all to pay their respects to those we lost, tomorrow evening at the Burrow."

"What about Hogwarts?" Hermione asked quietly. "How will we continue our education?"

"Academics have been put on hold," McGonagall said. "We have no headmaster, the Ministry was no help to us in this battle, and the castle is in ruins. It's going to take some time to get things back to normal."

"No school?"

"I'm sorry Miss Granger, but if you like you can sign up to be part of the rebuilding committee. The more who help the faster things will get back to the way they should be."

"I'll help," Hermione said quickly.

"We all will," Harry added. Most people in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm glad to hear." Kingsley said. "I think that's everything. Arthur, Moody, and Minerva could I see you a moment?"

"I could use some help in the kitchen," Molly said as everyone began to exit the room.

"I'd be glad to help," Narcissa said quietly. Molly smiled at her and gestured out of the room. Hermione stood next to Draco, Harry, and Ron waiting until the room emptied. She watched Kingsley and his group exit a side door and into a private office.

"So what now?" Draco asked into the sudden quiet.

"We move on," Harry said. "Go back to how things were before."

"How do we do that without school?" Hermione asked.

"Do you ever think about anything ever than school Hermione?" Ron moaned.

"Education is important Ronald!" she snapped. Draco chuckled and grabbed her hand in his, squeezing it.

"And what about us?" he asked her quietly. She looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"Will things change between us now that the battle is over? Once school starts up again you'll be a Gryffindor and I'll go back to being a Slytherin."

"So?" Hermione asked. "Why should that change anything?"

"I don't know," Draco mumbled. "I'm just scared that-."

"Draco." Hermione stopped him, her voice serious. "You have nothing to be scared of. I love you. I'm not going to leave you just because you're in a different house than me. Besides there's lots of time until that. First we need to get Hogwarts rebuilt. If we're lucky we'll have it done by the summer so we can get ready for next year. I can't imagine what we'd do if it took longer than that!"

Draco chuckled, "You're amazing, you know that?"

Hermione smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "You're pretty special yourself, Malfoy. Now c'mon. Let's help Molly in the kitchen, Godric knows how many people she needs to feed."

Draco nodded, letting her lead him away. He knew he'd been bonkers to think things would change just because things were different now. She loved him and he loved her. That was something he knew his parents hadn't had, which was why they never worked together, but he and Hermione would make it. Of that he was sure. It was going to be difficult, and people would judge them excessively but as long as he had her at his side he didn't care.

A/N: Okay I was going to wait to post this, but as it's July 31st AKA HARRY POTTER'S BIRTHDAY I figured I'd give you guys a gift by posting it today!

This is the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the finale- I tried to keep it close to the way Voldemort was killed in the book, but at the same time as I didn't include the Hallows I wanted to change a few things because Voldemort didn't have the wand in this story, and therefore the spell wouldn't have rebounded on him. So I hope you all enjoyed it.

PLEASE let me know if I missed anything or left anything out. I tried to summarize everything the nest I could but I've been writing this a while and theres a chance I missed a few points.

Also if you've stuck around and followed this since the beginning I would like to thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I love and appreciate all of you! And if you've been waiting until the end to leave a review this is your chance! I'm not sure which story I will be working on next (theres some WIP from years ago I have readers bugging me to continue that I haven't updated in a while) but please keep an eye out for any new stories!